North Valley Hospital celebrates successes of 2018

North Valley Hospital is grateful for our community support throughout 2018. We wanted to look back at some of the wonderful events, fundraisers, and moments we shared and also express our optimism for another year ahead as your community hospital.

Great Fish

We raised over $50,000 through the Great Fish Challenge for skilled clinical training.

During the Whitefish Community Foundation’s Great Fish Challenge, we partnered with donors, employees, and the community to raise $50,000 to bring the SIM-MT high fidelity simulation training lab to North Valley Hospital on a regular schedule.

This skilled, intense training with advanced technology (“high fidelity”) means that our caregivers are prepared to treat unusual health conditions, and meets the educational needs outlined by staff and providers.

Planetree

We celebrated the Planetree Festival and recognized 16 years of patient-centered care.

The Planetree Festival on Sept. 12 was a gathering of all who are invested in our Planetree philosophy of patient-centered care, from our clinical teams to nonprofit partners to local citizens, patients and families.

The 2018 Planetree Caregiver of the Year, Sue Conners, was recognized for dedicating her career to personal, professional care for patients and her kindness and knowledge as an employee of North Valley Hospital.

Our Jake Heckathorn, Spirit of Community Award winner was Honey Newton of Heart and Hands Midwifery, a well-respected and loved certified nurse midwife who welcomes newborns in The Birth Center at North Valley Hospital and around the valley. She was recognized for the outreach work she does to care for at-risk mothers in the area.

We honored the memory of Dr. Jon Torgerson — our friend, community member, physician and mentor — with the Physician Champion Award. A memorial fund was also set up at the NVH Foundation to create an annual Jon Torgerson award to a NVH community member who embodies his spirit of lifelong learning and service.

New CEO

We welcomed our CEO, Kevin Abel to our hospital and community.

Kevin Abel arrived in Whitefish from Chelan, Washington with his family in April and has been leading the hospital through new opportunities for growth while building our community partnerships.

Birth Center

The Birth Center earned designation as a Baby Friendly Facility. In August, The Birth Center at North Valley Hospital received recognition that North Valley Hospital is now a Baby Friendly Hospital, as certified from 2018-2023. This designation addresses The Birth Center and North Valley Hospital’s attention to family togetherness, breastfeeding and infant nutrition, and skin-to-skin contact.

The honor was a culmination of five years of work to implement Baby Friendly practices with support from a committee, physicians and administrators, and dedication by staff in The Birth Center and throughout the hospital.

Making a difference

Our employees and caregivers made a difference for our patients. In our community, it’s likely that we know someone who works at North Valley Hospital, a NVH clinic, Kalispell Regional Healthcare, or is otherwise connected to the hospital. Our hospital and community wouldn’t be the same without our professional team of 470 caregivers that make North Valley Hospital a unique place. Please join us in acknowledging the dedication of our professionals in all NVH departments.

In 2018 at North Valley Hospital, we served the community with almost 8,500 emergency room visits, just over 1,600 admissions, and over 45,000 outpatient visits. For a small hospital, those numbers are something to be proud of, and represent hard work by our staff and providers. We are honored to provide this care to our community.

Allison Linville handles community relations for North Valley Hospital.

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